An odd result for a pirme Jack Johnson?

:good

 

I'd be suprised if you don't miraculously find a fight report of what happened in the next few hours

 

I imagine with the schedules back then, and him just coming off with one of the fights of his life with Langford, Dunning was just that guy who got lucky. Hell I've seen many guys in their primes be stopped, drawed, etc with less than steller opposition. Archie Moore lost on a kayo to some guy who had 16-18 pro bouts once.

 

... you'd have to go fishing through micro film in the Boston Public Libary to find a report on this one. Chances are that even that wouldn't have told you the true reason why Johnson fought this guy to a draw. The real reason is probably this: Johnson was a pro for almost a decade and going nowhere. He was beating everyone right and left of the color line and was no closer to a title shot anyway. Here he is fighting a no name for a purse that would buy him nothing more than a lobster claw in a no name town (Millinocket was a mill town in Maine incorporated only 5 years earlier -1901. It still is a mill town -population a mere 5,000). Short answer: he didn't give a damn.

The fight before that one he fought a guy who only differed from Dunning in that he got stopped more often by better fighters -Charles Haghey -Johnson stopped him in 2... probably simply because Haghey took risks and just caught a shot on a nerve center.

Dunning, incidentally, died from injuries sustained in the ring by a fighter named Leon, a former wrestler, who was charged with manslaughter. It was Leon's first fight and he evidentally beat the case because he was back in the ring about 4 months later -again in Maine.

 

He was probably hungover with a broken arm, had a gentlemen's agreement, was a victim of backwood's racism and took a scheduled dive in the 26th round. All at once.

 

Simple as.

 

Here's what I found:

Johnson fought a 10-round draw with Billy Dunning, BUT there was strong suspicions that Johnson had agreed to carry Dunning. The fight was held in Millinocket, Maine, and no doubt Johnson cared little about what boxing fans there thought of his ability. It was a simple case: allow the local boy to look good, collect the money, and leave town."

 

Oh, there it is. The 407th excuse for a Johnson bad performance.

There is no heavyweight champ whose legacy employs such a cadre of excuses to inflate his worth.